Water/alcohol injection systems for use in internal combustion engines are known in the art. These systems provide users of such devices with significant vehicle power advantages. By injecting water and alcohol to the fuel-air mixture entering the combustion chamber, an engine's power output can be greatly increased while simultaneously decreasing the combustion chamber's temperature.
Although these are just two of the benefits that one can obtain when using prior art water/alcohol-injection systems, prior art systems are limited in many respects. For example, current water/alcohol injection systems require a user to perform a significant manual “tuning” of the system upon installation. Tuning a system upon installation of a water/alcohol system is time consuming and can be difficult to perform correctly, especially for a novice of automotive upgrades.
Additionally, prior art water/alcohol injection systems do not automatically inject an amount of mixture calculated to maximize the power output at any given engine state. For example, prior art injection system controllers generally lack the capacity to provide a precise amount of water/alcohol mixture to create the maximum power without creating engine “knocking”. Engine knocking occurs when the air/fuel mixture in the cylinder has been ignited and the typical smooth burning within the chamber is interrupted by the unburned mixture in the combustion chamber exploding before the flame front can reach it. The resulting shock wave creates a knocking sound against the chamber walls.
Prior art systems are additionally defective in their display of operational data to the user and the features they provide. Many prior art systems do not provide the user with information the user needs to continually run the system in the most efficient manner possible. Also, prior art systems do not allow active and real-time or near real-time control of injection of a water/alcohol mixture.
Furthermore, prior art systems require a user to refill a reservoir with the water/alcohol mixture. When the injection system is low on fluids, the user must refill the tank. Although simple, it can be burdensome to constantly fill the system reservoir with the water/alcohol mixture.